Horrifying and Bizarre Creatures of the Ocean

Viperfish

Sometimes you can just look at something and realize, that thing doesn’t mess around. Enter the Viperfish. This fang-toothed aquatic spawn of satan can live up to 40 years and spreads evil throughout the deep ocean.

A viperfish is a deepwater fish in the genus Chauliodus, with long, needle-like teeth and hinged lower jaws. They grow to lengths of 30 to 60 cm (12 – 24 inches). Viperfish stay near lower depths (250–5,000 feet) in the daytime and shallow at night. Viperfish mainly stay in tropical and temperate waters. It is one of the fiercest predators in the very deep part of the sea and is believed to attack its prey by luring the victim close to itself with a light producing organ. [Wikipedia]

Mola Mola (Ocean Sunfish)

Tipping the scales at up to 2,200 lbs. the Mola Mola is the heaviest bony fish in the world. These massive fish cruise the ocean feeding primarily on jellyfish. Sunfish have few natural predators but sharks, sea lions, orcas and the Japanese will consume them. Sunfish is considered a delicacy in Japan.

 

Although early research suggested that sunfish moved around mainly by drifting with ocean currents, individuals have been recorded swimming 26 km in a day, at a top speed of 3.2 km/h. Sunfish are pelagic and swim at depths of up to 600 m (2,000 ft). Contrary to the general perception that sunfish spend much of their time basking at the surface, research suggests that adult M. mola actually spend a large portion of their lives submerged at depths greater than 200 m (660 ft), occupying both the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. [Wikipedia]

Oarfish

The oarfish is perhaps the most elusive fish in the ocean. It has only been filmed alive at it’s natural depth twice, the first time being in 2001 by Navy personnel. The Oarfish was previously only seen and studied from the dead carcasses that washed ashore from the Gulf of Mexico, its natural habitat.

Saccopharyngiformes (Gulper Eel)

Residing 10,000 feet deep, Gulper Eels are the deranged mutant cousins of normal eels. They are the pythons of the sea, with mouths large enough to consume things larger than itself.

Saccopharyngiforms lack several bones, such as the symplectic bone, the bones of the opercle, and ribs. They also have no scales, pelvic fins, or swim bladder. The jaws are quite large, and several types are notable for being able to consume fish larger than themselves. Their myomeres (muscle segments) are V-shaped instead of W-shaped like in all other fish, and their lateral line has no pores, instead being modified to groups of elevated tubules. [Wikipedia]

Fangtooth

Fangtooths may look like they are out to feed off the blood of the innocent, but they are quite harmless to humans. The largest fangtooths are 6 inches long, so sleep easy tonight.

The pelagic fangtooths are among the deepest-living fish found as far as 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) down. They are more commonly found between 200 – 2,000 metres (660 – 6,560 feet) however, and juveniles apparently stay within the upper reaches of this range. They may undergo diel migrations as is common with many deep-sea fish: by day these fish remain in the gloomy depths and towards evening they rise to the upper layers of the water column to feed by starlight, returning to deep water by daybreak. Fangtooths may form small schools or go alone. They are thought to use contact chemoreception to find prey, relying on luck to bump into something edible. [Wikipedia]

Frilled Shark

The frilled shark is known as a “living fossil” exhibiting several features that are not possessed by any other creatures on the planet. It uses it’s elongated body to strike like a snake, and its extremely flexible jaws to swallow prey whole.

Rather uncommon, the frilled shark has been recorded from a number of widely scattered locations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In the eastern Atlantic, it occurs off northern Norway, northern Scotland and western Ireland, from France to Morocco including Madeira, and off Mauritania. In the central Atlantic, it has been caught at several locations along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, from north of the Azores to the Rio Grande Rise off southern Brazil, as well as over the Vavilov Ridge off West Africa. [Wikipedia]

With its elongated, eel-like body and strange appearance, the frilled shark has long been likened to the mythical sea serpent. The head is broad and flattened with a short, rounded snout. The nostrils are vertical slits, separated into incurrent and excurrent openings by a leading flap of skin. The moderately large eyes are horizontally oval and lack nictitating membranes (protective third eyelids). The very long jaws are positioned terminally (at the end of the snout), as opposed to the underslung jaws of most sharks. [Wikipedia]

Leafy Sea Dragon

A member of the Syngnathidae (which also includes the sea horse) the leafy sea dragon resembles a floating piece of seaweed. Since its top speed is about a foot every ten seconds, it uses camouflage as its main defense against natural predators.

The leafy seadragon is found only in the waters of Australia from Kangaroo Island on the Southern shoreline to Jurien Bay on the Western shoreline. It was once thought to be very limited in its range; however, further research has discovered that the seadragon will actually travel several hundred metres from its habitat, returning to the same spot using a strong sense of direction. They are mostly found around clumps of sand in waters up to 50 metres (164 feet) deep, hiding among rocks and sea grass. They are commonly sighted by scuba divers near Adelaide. [Wikipedia]

Barreleye Fish

Possibly the most unique fish in the sea is the barreleye. Named for it’s remarkably strange physical feature. The eyes of the barreleye are actually enclosed inside of its body. The two eyes protrude from the skull but are encapsulated by a layer of transparent soft tissue.

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